Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 16, scan section 7

down this man as childless, as a man that shall not prosper in his days ; for no man of his seed shall succeed to sit upon the throne of David, and to rule any more in Judah." And in I Chron. iii. 17, it reads : "And the sons of Yechonyah : Assir, Shealthiel his son." And there is a tradition that Assir, Shealthiel is one per- son, and was Nehemiah b. Chachalyah. And why was he called Assir ? Because he was conceived in prison. (The term in Hebrew for prisoner is Azzir.) R. Elazar said : A house in which the words of the Torah are not heard in the nights will finally be burned. As it reads [Job, XX. 26] : " Entire darkness is laid by for his treasures : a fire not urged by blowing will consume him ; it will destroy any one left in his tent." The Hebrew term for left is " sharid." As it reads [Joel, iii. 5]: "Among the remnant (shridim)." And he said again : He who does not benefit scholars by his estate will never see a sign of blessing : As it reads [Job, xx. 21] : " Nothing was spared from his craving to eat ; therefore shall his wealth not prosper." (There also the Hebrew term is "sharid," which, according to him, means a scholar, as analogized above.) And from the same passage the same inferred that he who does not leave any bread after his meal will not see any blessing. But did not the same say elsewhere that he who left pieces of bread after his meal is considered as if he were to worship idols ? This pre- sents no difficulty. In the latter saying he means, after finishing the meal he puts a whole loaf on the table, which is prohibited. As it reads [Is. Ixv. 11] : " That set out a table for the god of Fortune and that fill for Destiny the drink-offering." On the * Transferred from 37*5 of this tract. TRACT SANHEDRIN (SUPREME COUNCIL). 277 former saying he speaks of leaving some crumbs of bread for the poor. The same said again : He who changes his word is considered as if he were to worship idols. As Gen. xxvii. 12 reads : " Seem to him as a deceiver"; and as in Jer. x. 15 : They are vanity, the work of deception." And he said again : A man shall always be modest, but nevertheless shall be strong in his mind, so that he shall not be overruled by any one. (As then he may be sure that he will exist.) Said R. Zera : A hint of this is to be found in the following Mishna (Negaim vii. 3) : If there seems to be leprosy in a house which is dark, windows must not be opened for investigation. (Hence if one is strong in his mind, and at the same time modest, his defects cannot be investigated.) R. Tabi in the name of R. Joshiah said : It reads [Prov. xxx. 16] : " The nether world, and a barren womb ; the earth which is not satisfied with water ; and the fire which never saith, Enough." What correspondence is there between the nether world and the womb? This is only to say that as the nature of the womb is, if something be brought in, to give it out, the same is the case with the nether world — it gives out what is brought in. And it is to be inferred by an a fortiori conclusion thus : A womb into which corpses are privately brought gives them out with much noise, the nether world, into which corpses are brought with much noise, so much the more shall they come out with great noise. And this may be an answer to those who say that resurrection is not hinted at in the Torah, The disciples of Elijah taught : The upright who will be restored in the future by the Holy One, blessed be He, will never return to dust. As it reads [Is. iv. 3] : " And it shall come to pass that whoever is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jeru- salem, shall be called holy, everyone that is written down into life in Jerusalem." And as the Holy One is forever, so also those who are mentioned in this verse will be forever. And lest one say, " What will they do at the time the Holy One, blessed be He, shall renew his world," as it reads [ibid. ii. 17] : "And ex- alted shall be the Lord alone on that day." The upright in question will be supplied with wings similar to the wings of the eagles, and they will fly over the world. As it reads [Ps. xlvi. 3] : "Therefore will we not fear when the earth is transformed, and when mountains are moved into the heart of seas." And lest one may say that they will be inflicted — to this it is written [Is. xl. 31] : "Yet they that wait upon the Lord shall acquire new strength ; they shall mount up with wings as eagles ; they shall ayS THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. run and not be weary ; they shall walk and not become faint." But why not infer from the dead who were restored by Ezekiel, and who died again ? He (Elijah) holds with him who says that in reality Ezekiel did not restore any dead at all, and the whole prophecy was only a parable for the Jewish nation that it would be restored again. And this is related in the following Boraitha : The dead whom Ezekiel restored arose on their feet, sang a song, and died again. And what kind of a song was it ? The Lord makes one die justly, and mercifully restores him. So R. Eliezer. R. Joshua said : The song was from I Sam. ii. 6 : " The Lord killeth, and maketh alive ; he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up." R. Jehudah, however, said : Really, it was only a parable. Said R. Nehemiah to him : If really, then it is not a parable ; and if a parable, it is not really. Say, then, in reality it was a parable. R. Eliezer b. R. Jose the GaHlean, however, said : The dead who were restored by Ezekiel went to the land of Israel, married, and brought forth sons and daughters. And R. Jehudah b. Bathyra arose on his feet, saying : I myself am a descendant of them, and these are the phylacteries which I inherited from my grandfather, who told me that they were used by the restored. But who were the restored dead in question ? Said Rabh : They were the sons of Ephraim who erred concerning the promised time of redemp- tion from Egypt. As it reads [I Chron. vii. 20-23] : " And the sons of Ephraim : Shuthelach, and Bered his son, and Thachath his son, and Eladah his son, and Thachath his son, and Zabad his son, and Shuthelach his son, and Eser and Elad whom the men of God that were born in that land slew . . . And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brethren came to com- fort him." Samuel, however, said : They were the men who dis- beHeved in resurrection. As it reads [Ezek. xxxvii. 11]: " Then said he unto me. Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel ; behold, they say. Dried are our bones, and lost is our hope; we are quite cut off." R. Jeremiah b. Abah said : They were the bodies of men in whom there was no sap of any meri- torious act. As it reads [ibid., ibid. 4] : " O ye dry bones, hear